On October 27, 1870, General William Jackson Palmer incorporated the Denver and Rio Grande (D&RG) Railroad. It wasn’t until July of the following year that the first rails were laid out on what Palmer called his “Baby Road”. By the late 1870s, railroad construction had become feverishly competitive, leading to the Colorado Railroad War.
The Colorado Railroad War involved the D&RG Railroad as well as the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway, a comparatively massive railroad. The tussle became so intense, there were reported threats of violence between rival railroad gangs. As a way of breaking the impasse, Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe went as far as hiring gunfighters, which ultimately lead D&RG to surrender. However, a silver strike would result in a renewed struggle.
The two competitors set their sights on placing track along the Royal Gorge, a canyon located west of Colorado’s Cañon City. By this time D&RG had learned from its competition and hired its own gunfighters to even the score, including famous gunfighter Doc Holliday. In fact, the D&RG gunfighters were so powerful, D&RG had its way when the courts ruled in favor of D&RG, leading to a fiercely violent and bloody war which D&RG ultimately won when it gained control of Royal Gorge.
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